# Arduino Uno

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Arduino Uno and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as the standard starter board for learning electronics and programming, and as a first step into hardware. Critics find it overpriced and oversized, and say newer boards are more complex or it is past its prime.

## Why people recommend it

- Best starter board for learning (3 comments): "To learn the basics there's still no better route than getting an Arduino Uno (or clone) starter kit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48901887)) "I'll be always "grateful" to Arduino UNO R3 for my first foray into hardware-related stuff." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45799565)) "Everyone should have an UNO available in some form for playtime." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47857290))
- First step into programming (2 comments): "I'll be always "grateful" to Arduino UNO R3 for my first foray into hardware-related stuff." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45799565)) "My gateway into programming too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45805062))

## What people warn about

- Overpriced and oversized (1 comments): "It's just way overpriced and oversized." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46009918))
- Newer models are complex (1 comments): "Even the Uno R4 is obscenely complex." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46550357))
- Seen as past its prime (1 comments): "It's well past its prime." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47853730))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [ESP32](https://hackerapproved.com/p/esp32.md): 190 recommend
- [Arduino boards](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arduino.md): 81 recommend
- [Raspberry Pi Pico](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raspberry-pi-pico.md): 72 recommend
- [Raspberry Pi RP2040](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rp2040.md): 29 recommend
- [ESP32-S3](https://hackerapproved.com/p/esp32-s3.md): 26 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Arduino+UNO+R3+microcontroller+board&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.arduino.cc/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Arduino Uno", https://hackerapproved.com/p/arduino-uno/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).